I remember reading that the game is planned to make extensive use of player made content (items, etc). Brad/Frogboy said somewhere (it was an interview, but can't remember which off the top of my head) that it'd basically be the same concept as Spore's creatures, all integrated into Impulse.

In any case, I would imagine that this would include a map editor of sorts, unless it's done completely sandbox as GalCiv is. This we won't know for a while, though.

Right now, the team is working on the "unnamed fantasy strategy game" sometimes called "not-MOM" (not Master of Magic). It's a totally new graphics engine that makes use of multi-core CPUs and GPUs but will still run fine on lower end hardware thanks to built-in detection that will determine "how much stuff" to display in real-time.

That game will go into public beta early next year and its release date will be largely based on player feedback. As many of you know, we are in the position of being able to keep working on our games until everyone's happy with them. Our non-game part of the company does so well that there's no pressure. We want to make it the best turn-based strategy game of all time.

Yes, I am fully aware not-MoM is not Demigod, but it is vaguely discussed at the end of the Demigod inerview in ShackNews. Below is the linked to info for those who may be confused.

Shack: So how is work progressing on Stardock's fantasy/strategy game?

Brad Wardell: That's the one most of our developers are on. It's pretty far along, it's actually been in development for a while. We have two people working on Demigod right now, actually three if you count network. But the rest of the development team is on the fantasy strategy game.

Concept Board for Stardock's Upcoming Fantasy Title

Shack: Can you talk about it at all?

Brad Wardell: Sure. We're going to be formally announcing it--the team promises me in November, which means I can't promise that. But it's a turn-based fantasy strategy game. It's essentially--imagine Civilization with magic, in terms of general, broad play style. I mean, it's a lot more than that, because I'm a Civ fanatic--no pun intended, great site--but there's a really good mod for Civilization IV that lets you do magic and stuff. Obviously it's a lot more than just Civ with magic.

It has tactical battles. It has multiplayer. Modding is integrated into the game. I mean users can actually submit--I wish we had gotten this game out sooner, because it's going to seem like a Spore rip-off. I mean you can literally add in your own stuff--it goes into the game universe.

Shack: Spore didn't exactly invent that concept.

Brad Wardell: Yeah, but people are gonna say it's Spore-like, which I guess is good because it explains it. I mean people have already started talking about the Impulse store like it's the Apple app-store for Windows. But we're like, "Urggh, but we had it first." But in five years the Apple people will be saying how we ripped them off.

Shack: So November then?

Brad Wardell: That's when we should be announcing. It won't be out. The beta will start early next year, probably in the spring. And then it will come out basically when we're all happy with it. And it's going to be a public beta, so it's essentially [going to be released] when everyone thinks it's really good.

Thanks for the info folks was a good read and atleast a bit of info as far as demigod its a possibility but im more a turn based tactical/strategic guy , mostly i play those and some rpg's and a few flight sims (x3, some ww2 ones,Independence War,and mechwarrior merc's ) was never a fan of the RTS genre .. but i see why folks like it.

PLEASE open up the floodgates so to speak, for modders. The more mods there are, the more a game has longevity. Mods are, for instance, why people still play Starcraft and WC3 but have left the C&C series pretty much in the dust.

Every option that you hardcode is baaaad, imho. It's your game and you'll make it how you want, but please remember the modders!!!

Well, you basically have the right idea Modding allows you to change stuff in a game as much as it's possible to change it. Some games are more moddable than others because they give you access to their innards.

For example, Half Life games are very moddable because Valve makes the Source SDK (software development kit) available, which basically allows people to do anything they want, from RTS-FPS hybrids to MechWarrior recreations.

By contrast, most games do not offer you their inner workings, so you're stuck with changing units, items, etc and making maps.

I'm currently playing at Heroes of Might & Magic 5 : Tribes of the East, version 3.1 ... but I just can't wait for StarDock's first foray into the TB-fantasy-strategy genre. It's my favourite type of game. The Beta will be my biggest gaming event of 2009.

I don't mind if its visual quality doesn't match the level of HM&M 5 or King's Bounty : The Legend. StarDock is all about top-quality A.I.

The crucial problem with HM&M 5, even in its recent version 3.1 (August 2008), is that the single-player experience is diminished by the stupid A.I. of the computer players -- on all difficulty levels. I still play, once & awhile, because I enjoy the gorgeous 3D graphics, but the comps lack any strategic depth.

For example. The HM&M 5 programmers have given the A.I. a very simple instruction to follow : if the path is clear towards a weak enemy hero, or an enemy's capital, the top priority of its closest-to-the-tempting-target army is to rush towards the target. The problem, then, is that the A.I. most often does not take into account that a much stronger army can intercept it on the projected path. That's a frequent situation that a Human player can exploit.

It happened to me yesterday. Green (Elf) « saw » that the path was clear to enter my core region, where I had a very weak hero (a "mule") & my undefended capital's castle. It moved on the road towards that region ... but by doing so, it entered within striking distance of my very powerful principal hero -- which could crush it on the very next turn, a situation that was very obvious !

In terms of programming code, it must be extremely easy to instruct the A.I. to evaluate if taking a certain path will bring its army into the strike-range of a stronger enemy -- even though the target region is weaker.

The HM&M 5 A.I. is so obsessed by the priority of attacking weak heroes & weak capitals that it ignores the most elementary parameter of self-preservation. That is very sloppy programming by the Nival Interactive (Russian!) A.I. designers & coders.

There is also the issue that a castle might be empty of defenders ... but have a strong reserve of not-yet-hired troops. It can then be used as bait by the Human player : when the A.I. hero is near enough, you hire a hero & an army, and pounce of the approaching enemy. It's a well known trick.

The A.I. should then be allowed to "cheat" in this manner : its evaluation of the strength of the target castle should take into account its reserve of troops that can be hired and the gold reserve of the player who could hire those troops in time. The A.I. would then be allowed to assume that those troops are in a state of virtual existence, and it would not rush towards the tempting castle in those circumstances. Such an evaluation should be very easy to code ... and it would save a lot of A.I. heroes from that classic bait-and-switch trick.

I wonder if the new game will include something like Spore's (spit-spit) Critter Creator? At the very least, I hope we'll be able to research a global spell that spawns a new species like Uruk Hai or Trollocs.